Back Porch Confessions

What happens after the funeral, the flowers stop arriving, the phone stops ringing, and everyone else seems to return to normal… but you can’t?

That’s The Limbo State.

It’s the strange, empty space after losing someone you love where you’re no longer living in the initial shock of death, but you don’t quite know how to live this new life without them either.

In this deeply personal episode of Back Porch Confessions, we’re talking about grief after the loss of a loved one, emotional numbness, loneliness, survivor’s guilt, complicated feelings around healing, and one of the hardest questions grieving people face:

“How can I move forward without feeling like I’m leaving them behind?”

We’ll talk about the guilt that can come with your first genuine laugh. The first good day. The vacation you actually enjoy. The birthday where you don’t cry. The new relationship. The moment you realize they weren’t the first thing you thought about that morning.

And why NONE of those moments mean you’ve forgotten them.

Maybe healing after loss isn’t about “moving on.”

Maybe it’s about learning to move forward with them.

Carrying their stories. Saying their name. Honoring their life. Keeping the traditions that matter. Letting go of the belief that suffering every day is somehow proof of how deeply you loved them.

Because your grief is not the measure of your love.

And getting your smile back is not a betrayal.

We’ll explore how to begin creating new memories without erasing the old ones, how to navigate grief triggers and milestone dates, how to rediscover who you are after loss, and how to give yourself permission to experience happiness again.

Most importantly, we’re learning how to live FOR them instead of mourning them every single day.

Pull up a chair, grab your coffee, and sit with me awhile.

If you're somewhere in that lonely in-between place right now, this conversation is for you. ❤️

You don't have to stop loving them to start living again.

🎧 Back Porch Confessions — where healing, hard conversations, laughter, faith, life, and a little Southern sass always have a seat.

https://www.ourwayskin.com/

https://www.tiktok.com/@back.porch.confessions

https://www.shoppolishedboutique.com/

https://littlebutterfly13.myshopify.com/

#BackPorchConfessions #GriefAndLoss #GriefHealing #LifeAfterLoss #GriefSupport #HealingAfterLoss #FindingJoyAgain #MovingForward #EmotionalHealing #MentalHealthPodcast

SEO KEYWORDS:grief after losing a loved one, grief and loss podcast, how to move forward after death, learning to live after loss, grief recovery, healing after losing someone, death of a loved one, grieving a parent, grieving a spouse, grieving a child, grieving a family member, survivor guilt after death, guilt about moving on after death, feeling guilty for being happy after loss, emotional numbness after death, empty feeling after losing someone, grief limbo, stages of grief, complicated grief, grief triggers, grief anniversary, life after loss, finding happiness after grief, getting your smile back, learning to be happy again, moving forward without forgetting, honoring a loved one after death, living for someone who died, continuing bonds after death, grief and healing, grief support, bereavement, coping with death, loneliness after loss, finding yourself after loss, rediscovering joy after grief, mental health and grief, trauma and grief, healing podcast, women’s mental health podcast, mental health podcast, Back Porch Confessions

You know the feeling…

“I shouldn’t have to tell them. They should KNOW.”

And for those of us who have been internally maintaining an emotional spreadsheet of every offense, disappointment, side-eye, forgotten anniversary, unanswered text, and questionable comment since approximately 1977… this episode is for YOU. 😂

In this deep-dive episode of Back Porch Confessions, we’re unpacking the psychology behind unspoken expectations, resentment, relationship scorekeeping, people pleasing, emotional labor, communication breakdowns, childhood conditioning, hyperawareness, boundaries, forgiveness, and why some of us remember an argument from 1998 better than what we walked into the kitchen for five minutes ago.

We’ll talk about why “they should know” often really means “I want to feel seen.” We’ll explore the difference between healthy expectations and silent relationship tests, why highly observant people can become resentful when others don’t anticipate their needs, and how old hurts can quietly turn today’s disagreement into a courtroom filled with evidence from the last four decades.

Most importantly, we’re talking about how to stop keeping score without pretending the hurt never happened.

Because healing isn’t forgetting.

It’s learning when to communicate, when to create a boundary, when repair is possible, and when it’s finally time to close the spreadsheet.

Grab your coffee, pull up a chair, and come figure some SHIZ out with me on the Back Porch. ❤️

https://oralpouchsolutions.com/
https://www.shoppolishedboutique.com/

https://littlebutterfly13.myshopify.com/collections/backporchconfessions

https://www.ourwayskin.com/

https://www.tiktok.com/@back.porch.confessions

#BackPorchConfessions #RelationshipHealing #EmotionalHealing #PeoplePleasingRecovery #HealthyRelationships #RelationshipCommunication #Resentment #Boundaries #TraumaHealing #MentalHealthPodcast

They Should Know Syndrome, unspoken expectations in relationships, relationship resentment, emotional scorekeeping, keeping score in relationships, communication problems in relationships, unmet emotional needs, people pleasing and resentment, emotional labor in relationships, childhood trauma and relationships, hypervigilance in relationships, relationship expectations, marriage communication, resentment toward spouse, healing resentment, forgiveness and boundaries, healthy relationship communication, emotional needs, relationship conflict, trauma responses, childhood conditioning, people pleasing recovery, setting boundaries, emotional healing, mental health podcast, women’s mental health podcast, relationship advice podcast, trauma recovery podcast, self awareness, healing childhood wounds, Back Porch Confessions podcast

SENESITIVE SUBJECTS, VIEWER DISCRESSION IS ADVISED!

🎙️ Back Porch Confessions – The Interviews | Real People. Real Stories. Real Conversations.

Everybody has a story—and sometimes, all they need is someone willing to listen.

Welcome to Back Porch Confessions – The Interviews, hosted by Barbara McCormick, a podcast series built around honest conversations with real people whose experiences deserve to be heard.

Pull up a rocking chair as we go beyond the titles, careers, accomplishments, and appearances to discover the human being behind the story.

From first responders, firefighters, veterans, professionals, advocates and community leaders to survivors, everyday heroes and people who have overcome extraordinary circumstances, these interviews explore the moments that shape us.

We talk about mental health, trauma, resilience, healing, grief, relationships, leadership, courage, faith, personal growth, overcoming adversity, life lessons and finding strength after difficult seasons.

Some stories will inspire you.

Some will make you think.

Some may break your heart.

Some will make you laugh until you can't breathe.

And knowing this Back Porch... some conversations are probably going completely off the rails. 😂

But they'll always be REAL.

No perfect answers.
No pretending.
No judgment.

Just real people sharing real stories about where they've been, what they've survived, what they've learned, and who they've become along the way.

☕ Grab your coffee.
🪑 Pull up a rocking chair.
🎙️ And stay awhile.

This is Back Porch Confessions – The Interviews.

Everyone has a story. Sometimes, all they need is someone willing to listen. ❤️

https://oralpouchsolutions.com/

988 Lifeline - If you need emotional support, reach out to the national mental health hotline: 988.
#BackPorchConfessions #BackPorchConfessionsTheInterviews #RealPeopleRealStories #PodcastInterviews #MentalHealthPodcast #InspirationalStories #HealingJourney #Resilience #TrueStories #ConversationsThatMatter

Viewer/Listener Beware; sensitive subjects may be talked about during this podcast. Viewer digression advised

🎙️ Back Porch Confessions - The Interviews | Real People. Real Stories. Real Conversations.

Everybody has a story, and sometimes, all they need is someone willing to listen.

Welcome to Back Porch Confessions - The Interviews, hosted by Barbara McCormick, a podcast series built around honest conversations with real people whose experiences deserve to be heard.

Pull up a rocking chair as we go beyond the titles, careers, accomplishments, and appearances to discover the human being behind the story.

From first responders, firefighters, veterans, professionals, advocates and community leaders to survivors, everyday heroes and people who have overcome extraordinary circumstances, these interviews explore the moments that shape us.

We talk about mental health, trauma, resilience, healing, grief, relationships, leadership, courage, faith, personal growth, overcoming adversity, life lessons and finding strength after difficult seasons.

Some stories will inspire you.

Some will make you think.

Some may break your heart.

Some will make you laugh until you can't breathe.

And knowing this Back Porch... some conversations are probably going completely off the rails. 😂

But they'll always be REAL.

No perfect answers.
No pretending.
No judgment.

Just real people sharing real stories about where they've been, what they've survived, what they've learned, and who they've become along the way.

☕ Grab your coffee.
🪑 Pull up a rocking chair.
🎙️ And stay awhile.

This is Back Porch Confessions - The Interviews.

Everyone has a story. Sometimes, all they need is someone willing to listen. ❤️

https://oralpouchsolutions.com/

BACKPORCH10 Discount Code

988 Lifeline - If you need emotional support, reach out to the national mental health hotline: 988.#BackPorchConfessions #BackPorchConfessionsTheInterviews #RealPeopleRealStories #PodcastInterviews #MentalHealthPodcast #InspirationalStories #HealingJourney #Resilience #TrueStories #ConversationsThatMatter

The Next Fifty Years Are Mine!

What if healing wasn't about forgetting your past...

What if it was about refusing to let your past write the rest of your story?

After years of carrying childhood trauma, rejection, emotional neglect, abandonment, and believing I wasn't enough, I finally realized something life-changing:

The next fifty years are mine.

In this deeply personal episode of Back Porch Confessions, we talk about what happens after survival. How do you build a peaceful life when your nervous system has only known chaos? How do you trust healthy relationships after emotional wounds? How do you stop people-pleasing, set boundaries without guilt, and finally believe that you deserve joy?

This episode is for anyone who has ever questioned their worth because of childhood trauma, mother wounds, emotional neglect, toxic family dynamics, narcissistic abuse, or abandonment.

Together we'll explore:

❤️ Healing after childhood trauma
❤️ Mother wounds & emotional neglect
❤️ Learning to trust yourself again
❤️ Breaking generational trauma
❤️ Reparenting your inner child
❤️ Setting healthy boundaries without guilt
❤️ Nervous system healing & emotional regulation
❤️ Choosing peace instead of survival
❤️ Building healthy relationships
❤️ Living the life you were always meant to live

You are not broken.

You survived.

Now it's time to stop surviving...

And start living.

Because your story isn't over.

The next fifty years are yours.

Welcome back to the porch.

Childhood Trauma Healing, Emotional Healing, Inner Child Healing, Mother Wounds, Trauma Recovery, Emotional Neglect, Narcissistic Abuse Recovery, Abandonment Healing, Nervous System Healing, Mental Health Podcast, Self-Worth, Personal Growth, Healing Journey, Generational Trauma, Healthy Boundaries, Reparenting, Christian Healing, Faith and Mental Health, Back Porch Confessions, Barbara McCormick

https://littlebutterfly13.myshopify.com/

https://www.ourwayskin.com/

https://www.shoppolishedboutique.com/

https://www.tiktok.com/@back.porch.confessions

#ChildhoodTrauma
#MentalHealthPodcast
#TraumaHealing
#InnerChildHealing
#EmotionalHealing
#MotherWounds
#HealingJourney
#SelfWorth
#BackPorchConfessions
#BarbaraMcCormick

For years I thought there was something wrong with me.

I finally discovered there wasn't.

There was a little girl carrying pain that never belonged to her.

This episode isn't about staying angry.

It's about understanding your story, releasing the weight you've carried, and choosing peace over survival.

The next fifty years are mine.

Maybe it's time for yours to be too.

Releasing the Weight Without Rewriting the Truth

The Weight We Were Never Meant to Carry

Truth Without Hatred

What Forgiveness Is...and What It Isn'tFreedom Doesn't Require Their PermissionThe Day I Stopped Arguing With RealityA Letter to the Child Inside

Mourning the Mother I Needed

Some grief doesn't begin at a funeral.

Some grief begins when you realize you've spent your entire life waiting for someone to become the person you needed them to be.

In Hour Three of the Giving the Anger Back series, we explore one of the deepest and often most misunderstood wounds of childhood, mourning the love, emotional safety, and unconditional acceptance you deserved but may never have received.

This episode isn't about blaming parents. It's about giving yourself permission to grieve what was missing, understand how those early experiences shaped your self-worth, and begin becoming the safe place your younger self has always needed.

Together, we'll discuss emotional neglect, mother wounds, attachment trauma, reparenting, forgiveness, boundaries, and the freedom that comes when we stop waiting for someone else to heal what they never acknowledged.

Healing isn't forgetting your story.

Healing is changing the story you believe about yourself because of it.

If you've ever questioned your worth, struggled with people-pleasing, feared abandonment, or wondered why you still carry the pain of childhood into adulthood, this conversation is for you.

Today, we honor the grief.

Tomorrow, we choose peace.

https://www.ourwayskin.com/

https://www.tiktok.com/@back.porch.confessions

https://www.shoppolishedboutique.com/

https://littlebutterfly13.myshopify.com/

#BackPorchConfessions
#GivingTheAngerBack
#MotherWounds
#ChildhoodTrauma
#InnerChildHealing
#EmotionalNeglect
#TraumaHealing
#TraumaRecovery
#MentalHealthPodcast
#HealingJourney
#AttachmentTrauma
#SelfWorth
#EmotionalHealing
#GenerationalTrauma
#Reparenting
#HealingTogether
#ChoosePeace
#HealingStartsHere
#BarbaraMcCormick
#PodcastRecommendations

What if your anger was never the problem?

What if it was the part of you that protected a little child who never felt safe, seen, or unconditionally loved?

In Hour Two of the Giving the Anger Back series, we take a deeper look at anger through a trauma-informed lens. Together, we'll explore the difference between healthy anger and unhealed rage, why emotional suppression keeps us stuck, and how childhood wounds shape the way we respond to conflict, rejection, and disappointment as adults.

This isn't a conversation about staying angry—it's about finally understanding why the anger has been there all along. Healing begins when we stop asking, "What's wrong with me?" and start asking, "What happened to me?"

In this episode, we'll discuss:

• Why anger is often a protector, not the enemy
• The difference between healthy anger and rage
• Childhood trauma and emotional neglect
• The nervous system and survival responses
• How shame, rejection, and abandonment shape our adult lives
• Letting go of emotional burdens that never belonged to us
• Finding peace without denying the past

• Learning to protect yourself without living in survival mode

If you've ever struggled with people-pleasing, emotional triggers, resentment, perfectionism, or feeling like you're "too much," this episode will remind you that your emotions have a story—and your healing matters.

You are not broken.

You are healing.

Welcome back to the porch.

https://open.spotify.com/show/6Vaw567mvJRR0xV1hYdmNy

https://littlebutterfly13.myshopify.com/collections/backporchconfessions

Polished Boutique

https://www.tiktok.com/@back.porch.confessions

Our Way Skin | Skincare

Childhood Trauma Healing • Anger and Trauma • Inner Child Healing • Emotional Neglect • Mother Wounds • Trauma Recovery • Nervous System Healing • Emotional Healing • Self-Worth • Generational Trauma • Mental Health Podcast • Healing Journey • Back Porch Confessions

#BackPorchConfessions #GivingTheAngerBack #MentalHealthPodcast #ChildhoodTrauma #TraumaHealing #InnerChildHealing #EmotionalHealing #MotherWounds #TraumaRecovery #EmotionalNeglect #SelfWorth #GenerationalTrauma #NervousSystemHealing #HealingJourney #ChoosePeace #HealingStartsHere #Counseling #WomenHealingWomen #PersonalGrowth #BarbaraMcCormick

For years I believed I was the problem!

I thought if I were prettier... quieter... smarter... more lovable... maybe my own mother would have loved me differently.

But healing taught me something life-changing.

The anger wasn't the enemy.
It was the voice of a little girl who spent decades trying to survive without the unconditional love every child deserves.

In this deeply personal episode, we explore childhood emotional neglect, rejection, abandonment wounds, grief, identity, nervous system healing, self-worth, forgiveness, and what it truly means to stop carrying someone else's failures.

Sometimes healing doesn't mean pretending it never happened.

Sometimes healing means handing back the pain that never belonged to you.

The next fifty years belong to you.

Welcome to the porch.

https://backporchconfessions.riverside.com/Collections/BackPorchConfessions – Little Butterfly 🦋https://www.shoppolishedboutique.com/

https://www.tiktok.com/@back.porch.confessions

https://www.ourwayskin.com/

#BackPorchConfessions
#ChildhoodTrauma
#TraumaHealing
#HealingJourney
#InnerChildHealing
#EmotionalHealing
#MotherWounds
#HealingFromTrauma
#MentalHealthMatters
#MentalHealthPodcast
#TraumaRecovery
#SelfWorth
#SelfLoveJourney
#GenerationalTrauma
#EmotionalNeglect
#AbandonmentHealing
#RejectionTrauma
#NervousSystemHealing
#WomenHealingWomen
#HealingAfterTrauma
#ChildhoodHealing
#HealingStartsHere
#ChooseYourself
#PersonalGrowth
#HealingTogether
#PodcastRecommendations
#SpotifyPodcast
#Counseling
#HealingCommunity
#BarbaraMcCormick

In this heartfelt episode, we talk about why so many of us interrupt tenderness with, “Stop, you’re going to make me cry,” instead of allowing ourselves to feel the beauty of the moment.

Sometimes the tears we fight are not weakness. They are release. They are healing. They are the rainbow after the storm.

This episode explores why receiving love, kindness, compliments, and emotional truth can feel uncomfortable when we’ve spent years surviving, deflecting, or holding everything together. We’ll unpack why good words can touch old wounds, why crying can be a sign of safety, and how learning to let love land can become part of our healing.

This is for the strong ones, the sensitive ones, the ones who laugh it off before they let themselves feel, and the ones learning that tears don’t always mean pain.

Sometimes they mean your heart finally feels safe enough to breathe.

https://littlebutterfly13.myshopify.com/collections/backporchconfessionsPolished Boutiquehttps://www.ourwayskin.com/

https://www.tiktok.com/@back.porch.confessions

#HealingJourney #EmotionalHealing #TraumaRecovery
#InnerHealing #MentalHealthMatters #ItsOkayToCry
#FeelYourFeelings #HealingIsBeautiful
#SelfLoveJourney #BreakingGenerationalCycles
#NervousSystemHealing #TraumaSurvivor